Deaths, Travel Chaos in Europe Cold Snap
Local Editor
A cold snap gripping Europe killed at least 10 people in Poland, stranded thousands in snow-covered Turkey and brought fresh misery for both migrants and the homeless.
Double-digit sub-zero temperatures claimed more than 30 lives over the past few days, many of them migrants or homeless people found frozen to death.
Sunday was the deadliest day this winter for cold-related deaths in Poland, where temperatures have plunged to below minus 20 degrees Celsius [minus 4 Fahrenheit] in some regions.
"Yesterday, 10 people died of cold," Poland's center for national security [RCB] said Monday in a statement, adding that "the number of hypothermia victims has reached 65," since November 1.
Heavy snowfall in Turkey's main city Istanbul paralyzed traffic for a third straight day with the Bosphorus Strait closed to ships and hundreds of flights canceled.
Ferry services between the European and Asian sides of the city were scrapped and schools across the city closed.
Flagship carrier Turkish Airlines said only 292 departures from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport were expected on Monday.
On a normal day, the airport can accommodate over 1,500 landings and take-offs.
Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said more than 600 flights had been canceled on Sunday and over 10,000 travelers unable to reach Istanbul had been put up in hotels worldwide.
A 68-year-old homeless man was found frozen to death in the Macedonian capital Skopje while in Serbia, the southeastern town of Sjenica saw the mercury plunge to -33 degrees Celsius.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
